Case Study #1 Tracking Performance of a Boiler Upgrade with RETScreen Plus
Determine the energy savings achieved after the installation of a new energy efficient heating system in an office building located on the corner of 9th Avenue and Carroll Street Access Road in Burns Lake, British Columbia, Canada.
Follow these steps:
Start: Open RETScreen PLUS, and select climate data for Burns Lake
Data:
Step 1 – Consumption: Import natural gas consumption data (in GJ units) from spreadsheet file, data available for download here: Burns lake 2006-2011 Data (Excel Format).
Step 2 – Factor of influence: Download NASA weather data
Step 3 – Data processing:
a. Calculate heating degree-days (the reference temperature is estimated at 16°C)
b. Merge heating degree-days data into the fuel consumption data table
Analytics
Whole data set: 2005-2011
Step 1 – Baseline: Establish baseline based on the entire duration of the gas consumption data set
Step 2 – Comparison: Generate a CUSUM graph
Note: A change in the CUSUM slope indicates that a change occurred in the system energy performance.
Period prior to energy efficiency measure implementation: 2006
Step 1 – Baseline: Establish the baseline based on the period prior to energy efficiency measure implementation using the regression analysis
Step 2 – Target: Set the target to reduce the fuel consumption by 50%
Step 3 – Comparison: Generate a CUSUM graph, a control chart, and a measurement & verification graph
Note: The measurement and verification graph calculates the net savings after the commissioning date of the energy efficiency measures based on the baseline predicted.
Period after energy efficiency measure implementation: 2010
Step 1 – Baseline: Establish the baseline based on the period after energy efficiency measure implementation using the regression analysis
Step 2 – Target: Set the target to 0 or skip this step
Step 3 – Comparison: Generate a CUSUM graph & a control chart to track ongoing energy performance
The 2006 CUSUM graph shows that the natural gas consumption was reduced by about 480 GJ during the first year following the installation of the new heating system. The 2010 control chart shows that the actual natural gas consumption was very high compared to the predicted consumption for about one month when the control system was not operating properly, resulting in 18 GJ of additional energy use.
Reporting
Step 1 – Report: Create a report for managers
Step 2 – Edit: Insert an optional text page to describe the analysis
Step 3 – Output: Export the report in PDF (*pdf) format